Transcript
Dr. Sanjay Gupta (0:01)
Welcome to paging Dr. Gupta. I am back again to answer your health questions and more. Today, Jennifer is going to be joining us with some new questions from all of you. Jennifer, who do we have first?
Jennifer (0:12)
Okay, so our first question is from Meg. She's calling in from New Jersey, and she has a great question about organic food.
Caller (Meg or Cleo) (0:22)
How do we determine or ascertain that the food that comes from other countries is, in fact, organic? I assume in the United States there are inspectors and those kind of things, but I'm curious about things that come from other countries.
Dr. Sanjay Gupta (0:38)
Thank you. All right. I love this question, Meg. Thank you very much. Truth is, look, more than ever, people are interested in where their food comes from. They're interested in exactly how it's grown and then how it gets to their table. And many of us are interested in choosing organic foods. But the question becomes, then how do you know if it's really organic, especially if it comes from abroad? I'm going to tell you what you need to know right after the break. All right. Welcome back to paging Dr. Gupta. How do you know if something that is labeled as organic is really organic? Well, in the United States, we have inspectors and a certification process to make sure food labeled organic meets strict standards. Now, that's enforced by the USDA, the U.S. department of Agriculture. They have a national organic program which develops and enforces the standards for organic crops, livestock and agricultural products. Let me take a step back for a second and explain these standards. We've talked about them before, but basically organic food is considered organic because of the way it is farmed and handled and processed. I'm going to repeat that. Organic food is labeled that way because of the way that it is farmed, handled and processed. So for fruits and vegetables, for example, to be certified organic by the usda, farmers and growers need to avoid the use of prohibited substances. Basically, it's anything synthetic to manage pests, weeds, disease and soil. The requirements for animal products, a little different. Livestock have to consume an organic diet, plus vitamin and mineral supplements as needed. Both poultry and livestock must have access to outdoor spaces throughout the year. And for packaged foods, it's all about the ingredients. So for a food item with multiple ingredients to be considered organic by the USDA, at least 95% of those ingredients have to be certified organic. So what about organic food that is grown in other countries? Well, it turns out the USDA also has a pretty robust system in place to make sure imported organic food is held to the same standards as food grown in the United States and that it is indeed what they say it is. And here's how that works. First of all, farms and food producers in other countries must adopt USDA organic practices and be certified by by USDA accredited agents. These agents are trained to inspect and verify that the operation follows the same organic rules we use in the United States, even if that farm is thousands of miles away. Second of all, the US does have formal arrangements with some countries, like Canada, the European Union, Japan, among others. And these agreements basically say, hey, look, your organic standards, they are just as strict as ours. So if a product is certified organic in those countries and it can be sold as organic here as well, and then there's something Fairly new. Since 2024, every shipment of organic food coming into the United States must include a special import certificate. That certificate is sort of like a passport for organic products. It tells custom officials exactly where the food came from, how much of it there is, and confirms that it has been certified organic along along with a paper trail to show it. Finally, the USDA doesn't really just take people's word for it. It does conduct audits and inspections from time to time. And anyone that falsely represents products as organic gets an expensive fine. Now, I want to be clear. What I've just described is not a perfect system. Fraud does happen. Sometimes it can happen, and it does happen. And sometimes products which claim to be organic are not. That goes for food from the United States as well, by the way, as well as food from abroad. You know, we talked to Dr. Peter Laufer, a journalist and professor at the University of Oregon School of Journalism and Communication. He's done a lot of digging into this, including writing a book called Organic A Journalist's Quest to Discover the Truth Behind Food Labeling. And he pointed out something to us.